Turning Japanese Part 1 - The Arrival

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February arrived in such a breeze as we juggled work, house concerns (which led us to the cancellation of our reservation), and wedding preps. We had no plans whatsoever for the upcoming Valentine's and as I have mentioned in my anniversary entry, we're set for a Japan trip this month. With all the crazy things going on around me, I just found myself packing my winter clothes a week before our departure date.

Fast forward to Valentine's, Adrin took a leave from work that day while I stayed late in the office and waited for him to pick me up. Early morning of the following day was our flight out and we decided to come directly from my place which is nearer the airport.

We reached NAIA terminal 1 fairly early, and since we have business class seats (thanks to Adrin’s miles! woohoo!) checking in has been really swift. After which, we headed to Delta’s lounge to grab some breakfast. Adrin passed his time reading while I was leisurely hooked on the internet. Boarding time came and we comfortably took our personal space for the next 4 hours. It was an uneventful flight spent by eating, watching a movie and consequently sleeping on it while it’s still playing.

The Delta Business Elite Experience

Upon arrival at Narita airport, we got our train tickets going to Archie’splace. He is Adrin’s college friend who currently lives in Japan for a work assignment. We roomed with him during our stay there. It was a 2-hour train ride from the airport to Inagi city where he lives. First dilemma, we can’t call Archie to pick us up from the train station since my roaming did not activate (boo!) and we can't call him through the payphone as we can't figure out how to dial in his Japan number.

Armed with the map I researched and printed out, we decided to follow it and search for his place ourselves. Not to mention the 4 big bags we werelugging and the chilly weather with light showers, it has been quite an adventure walking and asking around for directions. It's so frustrating to see how the language barrier can hold the locals back from helping us. Luckily, with the help of a polite middle-aged English-speaking local and his GPS capable smartphone, we were able to find Archie’s crib safely. He was surprised to see us by his doorstep since he’s expecting for us to call first. We shared to him our walking drama as he ushered us in. 

Since we were able to settle in quickly, we discussed the plan for what's left of our day. It has been decided that we rest first and prepare our bags then go straight to Shinjuku to have some xiao long bao from Din Tai Fung, see the city's Illumination display and catch our overnight bus to the Ski Resort. Little did we know that Din Tai Fung is also such a hit with the Japanese that when we got there by dinner time, there's already a long queue outside the restaurant. Since we do not have the luxury of time that night, we decided to just skip it and eat somewhere else. 

Before grabbing our dinner, Archie took us to the lights display and began to snap away. It has been a joke between him and Adrin that he'll be our photographer as we do a practice prenup in Japan. Haha.

We had dinner at a local place where we ordered a pork rice bowl and japanese curry. It was a new experience to choose and pay for your food via a vendo machine and hand only your stub to the waiter so they can serve it to you. Cool eh? Our meal was brought to us only after several minutes. Next we need to mix the raw egg into the rice bowl. I was able to successfully do it with my bowl when I suddenly heard Adrin yelp. Since his meal has a bigger serving, when he transferred the egg into it, it just slid right off the bowl and landed on the table. Oopsie, no more egg for him then. It was such a good meal still that we're able to finish it in less than 15mins! Whew! What an achievement for a slow-eater like me! Hihi.

Our food, with the warning for the egg slide scenario,
and the actual mess from the mishap.

With our night's fill, we hastened to the bus stop where will board our ride for the night that will take us to the  ski resort. It's quite a long journey, and we're expected to arrive there by daylight. Waiting for the bus wasn't a chore as we observed the locals alongside a few photo ops. 

I'll continue in my next post the rest of our vacation story.

Read the rest of the Turning Japanese Series here: 
Part 2 - Nagano Ski Trip
Part 3 - Sankeien Garden, Yokohama
Part 4 - Hikawa Maru Museum, Yokohama
Part 5 - Asakusa and Tokyo Skytree
Part 6 - Tokyo DisneySea
Part 7 - Shinjuku and Shibuya

Til the next one!

Breaking Up With ProFriends

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Last December, we made our first step to our own home. We reserved a Sabine unit in ProFriends’ Bellefort Estates. Two months after that big leap, we made another life-changing decision – we cancelled our reservation. So much for an update, eh?

The house that we had to let go

It all started when Tine shared with me a PinoyExchange forum thread on Bellefort Estates. I didn’t ask how and why she saw that thread, I immediately read through the most recent discussion. I cannot put into words exactly what I felt but it was as if I picked the only topic of a Theology oral exam which I never reviewed. We just made a hefty first down payment and then we are reading a lot of negative feedbacks from current and soon-to-be residents. Most of the discussion was around unit construction being delayed and turnover units having very poor quality. We reserved for a Ready-for-Occupancy unit so we weren’t worried about construction delays, but the poor quality of turnover units was very alarming. It was 3AM but my blood was pumping. We created an account for PinoyExchange just so we can participate in the thread. I basically asked: “if you had the chance would you have backed out?” We got four replies the following day, one of which was a private message. None of them gave a positive response.

I spent the next couple of days reading through the thread (it was a 29-paged thread then). Our second down payment will be due in 3 weeks so we need to act fast. I read through our contract and came up with the following action steps:

• Request for an early inspection of our unit.
• Request for the pullout of the post-dated checks we issued for our monthly down payments.

Tine agreed it sounded like a good plan. If we can pull out our checks, then we don’t have a 3-week deadline for our decision. If in case we decide not to pursue the unit, our reservation will be cancelled automatically after 3 months. On the other hand, if we decide to push through, we were willing to pay for the late payment fee (P50/day). Consequently, we’ll have 3 months to convince ProFriends to allow us to inspect our unit early as this is not allowed as per contract. Buyers can only inspect the unit once it is ready for turnover and down payment total has been paid in full. We thought that the clause was intended specifically to prevent potential accidents in units undergoing construction. Since our unit was 95% complete, we thought that ProFriends will be considerate and grant our request for early inspection.

[Indulge me of skipping my rants of unproductive calls and follow ups both with ProFriends and our agent.]

Eventually, Tine and I decided to visit ProFriends’ office on a weekend to raise our requests [again]. I was armed with print outs of our requests. After telling the receptionist the purpose of our visit, she told us to go to their specialist upstairs and wait for our number to be called. Tine and I joked (half meant) that they kept customers with complaints in a separate room. We waited for 2 hours before our number was called. Ren was the specialist who accommodated us. He was easy to talk to and I felt that he readily understood our concerns. Unfortunately, he cannot make any decision by himself and had to go out multiple times to consult with their upper management. This was frustrating. You have a room full of customers with complaints and there isn’t one manager present to whom concerns can be escalated to! During the times that Ren was out, Tine and I would eavesdrop on the conversations of others. The guy on our far right says that ProFriends did not recognize some of the payments he’s made. The couple next to him has been paying for 3 years already and they still cannot transfer to their unit. The couple on our right was dismayed with the unit they were made to transfer to, and eventually requested to cancel their reservation. Negative vibes all around. Finally, Ren said that he will receive our requests and come back to us with a reply the coming Monday. Tine and I thanked Ren. We both felt that it was a productive afternoon, and that there was hope.

I made sure to follow up with Ren on the day he said he would give ProFriends’ official reply to our requests. Hours after my follow up email, I got an email from Ren. None of our requests were granted. And their response wasn’t satisfying. They did not even state what the rationale was for denying our request for early inspection. They simply repeated the policy which I understood and acknowledged in the letter. And their response on our request to pull out our checks was that we cannot do that unless we replace them with other checks or cash. WHAAAT??? With that, Tine and I decided to cancel our reservation. I went to ProFriends’ office 3 days after to formalize our decision. We got our post-dated checks back including our supposed second down payment.

Tine and I weren’t happy with how this story went. Despite the negative feedbacks, we were still hoping to proceed with our unit. That’s why our initial action steps leaned towards giving ProFriends the benefit of the doubt. Sadly, they did not give us a chance to give them the chance.

We are charging the money we lost to experience. As we re-start our search for our future home, we know better. Some basic things we are keeping in mind next time:

•  Research for the good reviews and more so for the bad.
• Check for the seller’s track record.
• Talk with residents in the neighborhood if possible.

This might be too long [and boring already], so let me just end this by sharing you the thread that led to this entry: Pinoy Exchange thread on Bellefort Estates

Til next time,

EA Casedo's Embroidery for Adrin's Attire - Booked!

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Okay, I need some catching up on this blog. Work has taken an uphill climb again and I'm finding my way once more to the life path of working on multiple projects. Believe me, it takes some getting used to after treading the single project path for more than a year. Oh well, so much for my work life.

I just want to share that I'm on track with my to-do list for the next six months. We were able to tick off another major item from our list last month. And this time, it's for Adrin! Yey! 

Parallel to my research for other suppliers we booked last year, I also kept a watchful eye for recommended suppliers for barongs. Yes, barong. This is Adrin’s preferred attire on our wedding day.

Our initial scouting trips were within the confines of a mall. We would check out shops from time to time and look at the barongs on the rack. Adrin would look around and take note of his likes and dislikes. He made firm that he doesn’t want the super raw looking ones which consequently are rough to the skin.

As we attended the bridal fairs last month, we also included in our agenda to canvass for barongs. Carefully scrutinizing the designs showcased during the fair broadens our knowledge on the classic formal wear for Filipino men. Thanks also to the very accommodating suppliers there who patiently answered our questions. Being acquainted with pitchera, raya, and calado helped us picture what will look best on Adrin and also our entourage. Haha. Without any intention to book for his attire in that fair, noting down the rates for each item is the best that we can do.

Since last year, I already have a supplier in mind for Adrin’s barong. Rey Casedo is a well-recommended supplier in w@w, and brides are raving about the quality output they got from him for a relatively cheaper price compared to the market’s average. I’m not surprised though since he’s from Lumban Laguna, the barong capital of the Philippines! J

And so, after talking to Rey over the phone on the first week of January, I finally decided to schedule a meeting with him. I also invited my friend Aiza since they are also interested to book Rey for the father’s and entourage’s attire.

It was an early morning meeting in a fast food chain some weeks ago. Rey and his driver got there way earlier than our meeting and we also got there before Aiz and Ron so we immediately discussed with Rey our orders. He had with him barong fabrics in different types (pina, pina cocoon, jusi) and various embroidery designs as well. He first showed us some sample outputs in his car which are for delivery that day. After that, we went through the pile of pina fabrics to diligently examine and appreciate the designs of each one. And finally Adrin was able to decide on the fabric for his barong. Indeed, the actual fabric that will be cut and sewn to be his attire on our wedding day. J

After deciding on the fabric for him, we also chose the fabrics and designs for his father, best man, groomsman, and our secondary sponsors and bearers. Since we forgot to bring our check book, we excused ourselves first so we can withdraw some money for the down payment. Next we handed him our partial payment for the items ordered and had some comforting breakfast. J

If you're also interested of Rey's services, drop me a message so I can link you up with him. J

UPDATE (they now have a Facebook page!):
Facebook Name: EA's Casedo's Embroidery
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Cheers!